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JAMES    STOKES   LECTURESHIP   ON   POLITICS 
NEW   YORK   UNIVERSITY 


REPRESENTATIVE    GOVERNMENT 
IN  THE  UNITED   STATES 


REPRESENTATIVE 
GOVERNMENT 

IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


Being  the    Opening   Lecture    of    the    'Jamei  Stokes 
Lectureship  on   Politics,    at  Nov  Tork  Uni-versity 


WILLIAM     HOWARD     TAFT 


THE     NEW     YORK     UNIVERSITY     PRESS 

}2    VVAVERLY    PLACE,    NEW    YORK    CITY 
I92I 


Of  thii  Lecture,  fivt  hundred  copies  ha-ve  been  printed,  iv  hereof  four 
hundred  and  se-venty  are  reser-ved  for  pri-vate  distribution.  Copyright, 
igsi,   by  the   Neiu    York    Uni-versity   Press. 


T2.3 


THE    NEW    YORK    UNIVERSITY    PRESS 


Committee    of    Publication 

Arthur  Huntington  Nason,  Ph.D.,  Chairman 
Director  of  the  Press 

Harold  Dickinson  Senior,  M.D.,  Sc.D..  F.R.C.S. 

Theodore  Francis  Jones,  Ph.D. 


KENNEBEC      JOURNAL      PRESa 
AUGUSTA,      MAINE 


PREFATORY   NOTE 

MR.  JAMES  STOKES  (A.B.,  1863, 
LL.B.,  1865,  New  York  University), 
who  died  at  Ridgefield,  Connecticut, 
October  4,  1918,  made  a  generous  bequest  to  his 
alma  mater,  with  the  provision  that  a  certain 
portion  of  the  annual  income  should  be  used  in 
maintaining  a  course  of  public  lectures,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Council  and  Faculty  of  the  Uni- 
versity, "which  lectures  should  have  as  their  chief 
object  the  inculcation  of  the  obligation  and  necessity 
of  maintaining  a  high  moral  standard  in  politics  and 
legislation  and  administration  of  political  affairs 
of  my  own  country,  and  upon  means  by  which  the 
same  may  be  obtained."  The  course  of  lectures 
was  founded  in  memory  of  his  father,  James  Stokes, 
and  of  the  donor. 

The  opening  lecture  of  the  James  Stokes  Lecture- 
ship on  Politics,  which  forms  the  content  of  this 
volume,  was  delivered  in  the  Town  Hall,  New  York 
City,  on  Saturday  evening,  April  30,  1921,  Chan- 
cellor Brown  presiding. 


477«)(I 


REPRESENTATIVE   GOVERNMENT 
IN  THE  UNITED   STATES 


REPRESENTATIVE  GOVERNMENT 
IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


T  has  become  the  fashion  to  deplore  the  f aihngs  Complaints  against 

^      Representative 


I  of  our  Representative  Government.  The  hopes  ^y^tem 
and  anticipations  of  enthusiastic  patriots  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  are  compared  with  the 
various  defects  of  the  system;  and,  while  some  rem- 
edies are  suggested,  the  objections  to  them  are  evi- 
dent, and  we  are  left  in  a  somevv^hat  hopeless  state. 
When  we  analyze  the  views  of  these  pessimists,  we 
extract  the  admission  that  democracies  of  consider- 
able size  cannot  be  governed  at  all  without  the  repre- 
sentative system,  and,  therefore,  that  we  must  make 
the  best  of  it,  with  such  modifications  as  may 
strengthen  its  useful  operation  and  restrain  it  from 
being  misrepresentative  of  the  people's  will.  Shall 
we  admit  that  our  government  is  a  failure?  Shall 
we  admit  that,  in  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-five 
years  of  its  Hfe,  it  has  not  had  useful  operation? 
That  we  must  do,  if  we  are  to  admit  the  premise  that 
representative  government  is  a  failure. 
3 


REPRESENTATIVE    GOVERNMENT 
Our  Federal  Gov-       There  is  110   sovernment  in  the  world  that  is   so 

ernment  purely  ^ 

Representative  strictly  representative  as  the  government  of  the 
United  States  under  the  federal  Constitution.  It 
vests  the  ultimate  power  of  government  in  the  peo- 
ple, but  it  secures  to  them  the  exercise  of  that  power 
only  through  representatives.  The  selection  of  the 
President  is  not  put  directly  in  the  people,  but  in  an 
Electoral  College,  the  members  of  which  are  to  be 
appointed  in  the  states  in  any  way  a  state  thinks  of. 
The  Senate  is  made  up  of  two  representatives  from 
each  state,  large  or  small,  and  originally  was  elected, 
not  by  the  people,  but  by  the  state  legislatures.  The 
House  of  Representatives  is  the  only  branch  of  the 
government  whose  members  were  to  be  the  direct 
choice  of  people.  The  Judges  are  appointed  by 
the  President  and  confirmed  by  the  Senate,  and  so 
are  the  chief  executive  subordinates  of  the  Presi- 
dent. No  single  executive  or  judicial  officer  in  the 
government  is  elected  directly  by  the  people.  It  is 
true  that,  since  the  Constitution  was  adopted,  the 
members  of  the  Electoral  College,  who  were  intend- 
ed to  exercise  their  judgment  in  selecting  the  proper 
man  to  be  President,  have  by  custom  and  in  fact  lost 
this  power.  They  are  now  only  a  machine  for  regis- 
4 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 
terino:  the  people's  votes   for  previously  ascertained  ^"^  Federal  Gov- 

^  r      L  X  J  ernment  purely 

candidates,  with  weight  proportioned  to  the  popula-  Representative 
tion  of  the  states  that  elected  them  members  of  the 
college.  So,  too,  the  members  of  the  Senate  are  now 
elected  by  the  people.  These  two  slight  changes, 
however,  do  not  defeat  the  evident  purpose  of  the 
constitution-framers  to  create  a  new  government 
which  should  have  permanence  and  safety  by  avoid- 
ing the  temporary  winds  of  popular  passion.  The  |  .^ 
checks  and  balances  intervening  between  the  direct 
expression  of  the  popular  will  and  its  ultimate  con- 
trol are  greater  than  in  most  popular  governments. 
The  rigid  term  of  four  years  by  which  the  Execu- 
tive remains  in  power,  no  matter  how  strongly  the 
people  may  give  their  verdict  against  him  in  the 
mid-term  Congressional  election,  the  six-year  term 
of  each  of  the  senators,  arranged  in  three  classes, 
so  that  only  one-third  of  the  Senate  can  be  changed 
every  two  years,  and  the  certain  full  two  years  of 
each  House  of  Representatives,  however  great  the 
change  in  popular  sentiment  in  a  shorter  period,  are 
all  adapted  to  secure  the  same  stability.  The  same 
feature  is  shown  in  the  machinery  for  the  amend- 
ment of  the  Constitution.  To  change  it,  two-thirds 
5 


REPRESENTATIVE    GOVERNMENT 


Our  Federal  Gov- 
ernment purely 
Representative 


Our   Government 
Oldest  and  Strong- 
est Popular  Gov- 
ernment in  the 
World 


of  each  house  of  Congress  and  the  legislatures  of 
three-fourths  of  the  states  must  concur.  This  is  not 
a  referendum  to  the  people;  it  is  a  referendum  to  the 
people's  representatives,  and  enforces  delay  and  de- 
liberation by  the  people  before  a  change.  We  are 
not  a  pure  democracy  governing  by  direct  action, 
and  the  great  men  who  framed  our  Constitution 
studiously  avoided  making  us  so. 

Ours  is  the  oldest  popular  government  in  the 
world,  and  is  to-day  the  strongest  and  most  con- 
servative. It  is  not  an  oligarchy  or  an  aristocracy 
under  the  guise  of  republican  forms,  and  it  never 
was.  The  people  do  rule  and  have  always  ruled  in 
the  United  States.  They  have  their  will;  but  they 
have  it  after  a  wholesome  delay  and  deliberation 
which  they  have  wisely  forced  themselves  to  take 
under  the  restrictions  of  a  constitution  which,  origi- 
nally adopted  by  however  small  a  popular  vote,  they 
have  fully  approved  by  one  hundred  and  thirty  years 
of  acquiescence.  It  is  this  voluntary  self-restraint 
that  has  made  their  government  permanent  and 
strong.  It  is  a  fundamental  error  to  seek  quick  ac- 
tion in  making  needed  changes  of  policy  or  in  re- 
dressing wrong.  Nations  live  a  long  time,  and  a 
6 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES 
year  or  five  years  is  a  short   period   in   their   Hfe.   5«r  Government 

•^  Oldest  and  Strong- 

Most  wron<?s  can  be  endured   for  a  time  without  ''-^^  Popular  Gov- 

ernment  in  the 

catastrophe.  Reforms  that  are  abiding  are  achieved  ^orid 
step  by  step.  It  is  better  to  endure  wrongs  than  to 
effect  disastrous  changes  in  which  the  proposed 
remedy  may  be  worse  than  the  evil.  Often  things 
denounced  as  wTongs  are  not  so.  It  needs  attention 
and  deliberation  to  decide  first  that  wrong  exists, 
and  second  what  is  the  right  remedy.  A  popular 
constituency  may  be  misled  by  a  vigorous  misrep- 
resentation and  denunciation.  The  shorter  the  time 
the  people  have  to  think,  the  better  for  the  dema- 
gogue. One  of  the  great  difficulties  in  carrying  on 
a  popular  government  is  in  getting  into  the  heads 
of  the  most  intelligent  voters  what  the  real  facts 
are,  and  what  reasonable  deductions  should  be  made 
from  them.  Any  reasonable  suspension  of  popular 
action  until  calm  public  consideration  of  reliable 
evidence  can  be  secured  is  in  the  interest  of  a  wise 
decision.  That  at  least  was  what  our  forefathers 
thought  in  making  our  federal  government.  It 
seems  to  me  that  the  result,  in  the  light  of  the 
present  dangers  to  civilization  and  to  popular  gov- 
ernment, has  vindicated  them. 
7 


REPRESENTATIVE   GOVERNMENT 


Our  State  Govern- 
ment not  so  purely 
Representative  as 
our  Federal   Gov 
ernment 


But  our  federal  frame-work  is  only  a  part  of  our 
^TT.ffrnrnnL  govemment.  How  as  to  the  states?  In  them,  the 
people  have  taken  to  themselves  the  power  to  act 
more  directly.  Not  only  do  they  elect  the  two 
houses  of  the  legislature  and  the  governor  directly, 
and  all  usually  for  the  same  term,  but  they  elect 
many  other  state  officers,  so  that  the  administration 
of  affairs  is  divided  and  the  responsibility  for  it 
can  not  be  fixed  on  one  depository  of  power  but  is 
carried  back  more  completely  to  the  people  them- 
selves. In  a  third  of  the  states,  the  power  of  direct 
initiation  and  legislation  and  of  specific  veto  of  the 
acts  of  a  representative  legislature  is  vested  in  the 
people.  The  constitutions  of  most  of  the  states 
are  much  more  easily  amended  than  is  the  federal 
Constitution. 
The  Federal  Gov-       W^hile  the  Comparison  is  not  just  in  some  respects, 

ernment  Has 

Served  the  People  bccausc  the  fields  of  jurisdiction  and  the  difficulties 

Better 

presented  are  different,  still  we  may  justly  inquire 
whether  the  federal  government  with  its  purely 
representative  character  has  not  served  all  the 
people  better,  has  not  responded  to  their  real  and 
deliberate  will  more  satisfactorily  in  the  long  run, 
and  has  not  given  them  a  more  efficient  adminis- 
8 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES 

tration  and  more  even  handed  justice  than  the  state  The  Federal  Gov- 
ernment Has 
SfOVernment.  Served  the  People 

^  .  Better 

Men  were  wont  to  say  that  the  federal  Constitu- 

Failure  to  Amend 

tion  was  a  strait  jacket  and  unamendable,  and  that  Federal   Constitu- 
tion Shows  People 
the  FederaHsts  who  made  it  more  than  a  century  Satisfied 

ago,  under  the  influence  of  a  fear  of  the  people, 
were  still  holding  us  in  leading  strings.  But  this 
was  untrue.  It  was  not  amended  for  three  quarters 
of  a  century  because  all  issues  were  absorbed  into 
that  of  slavery  and,  with  states  enough  on  each  side 
of  that  question  to  prevent  any  change,  amendment 
became  impossible.  After  the  war  settled  that  issue, 
we  have  had  seven  important  amendments,  and  not 
a  few  insist  that  we  have  gone  too  fast  with  those. 
The  people  can,  therefore,  amend  our  federal  Con- 
stitution if  they  choose.  It  is  noteworthy  that,  with 
the  exception  of  the  election  of  senators,  no  effort 
of  any  kind  has  been  made  to  vary  the  checks  and 
balances  between  the  expression  of  the  will  of  the 
people  and  legislative  and  executive  action,  or  to 
make  the  character  of  our  national  government  less 
representative  and  more  direct.  This  would  seem 
to  show  that  our  people  as  a  whole  are  not  so  dis- 
appointed in  representative  government  in  its  most 
typical  form,  as  to  wish  to  modify  it. 
9 


REPRESENTATIVE  GOVERNMENT 


Representative 
Government  Ap- 
parently not  so 
much  Respected  as 
Formerly 


It  may  be  conceded  that  representative  govern- 
ment is  not  so  much  respected,  anywhere  in  the 
world,  as  it  was  a  century  ago.  What  are  the  rea- 
sons for  this?  Are  they  such  that  we  should  seek 
to  change  it  to  another  form?  One  hundred  years 
ago,  a  representative  form  of  government  was 
looked  upon  as  a  means  of  escaping  from  an  abso- 
lute monarchy  with  all  its  ills,  and  from  an  oligarchy 
with  its  defects.  It  was  regarded  as  the  proper 
instrument  to  interpret  the  will  of  the  people  into 
government  action.  The  great  goal  then  was  per- 
sonal liberty  and  equality  before  the  law,  and  these, 
it  w^as  thought,  representative  government  would 
secure.  Has  it  not  done  so  with  us  on  the  whole? 
Our  machinery  does  not  work  perfectly;  but,  speak- 
ing generally,  it  effects  these  results.  Now  that 
they  are  secure,  there  has  come  into  the  minds  of 
many  a  desire  not  for  liberty  and  equality  of  oppor- 
tunity, but  a  demand  for  equality  of  condition.  It 
is  a  protest  against  the  operation  and  working  out 
of  the  right  of  property,  against  the  inequalities  in 
wealth  and  comfort  present  in  society.  The  great 
advance  in  the  average  comfort  of  living  for  most 
people  has  emphasized  by  contrast  the  privation  and 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES 
suffering  of  what   is   called  the   submerged  tenth.  Representative 

Government  Ap- 

The   usefulness   of   government   is   gauged   in    the  parentty  not  so 

much  Respected  as 

judgment  of  many  chiefly  by  the  measure  of  relief  Formerly 
it  oft'ers  to  that  part  of  the  population.  More  than 
this,  the  betterment  in  the  condition  of  all  the  people, 
due  in  part  to  personal  liberty  and  greater  equality 
of  opportunity,  has  created  in  the  minds  of  a  con- 
siderable number  a  desire  for  wider  equality  of 
comfort  and  living,  and  prompts  the  demand  that 
government  shall  bring  about  an  economic  as  dis- 
tinguished from  a  political  reform. 

Neither  Congress  nor  a  state  legislature  has  it  resmt'otive^^v-^' 
within  its  power  to  work  such  economic  changes,  ^^"^^^"^  Unjust 
even  though  they  were  possible.  That,  however,  is 
not  an  excuse  in  the  minds  of  the  anarchistic,  com- 
munistic, or  socialist  assailants  of  our  representa- 
tive government.  And  even  with  those  who  would 
refuse  to  class  themselves  wdth  such  groups,  there 
is  discontent  w^hich  finds  expression  against  our 
representative  system,  because  the  representatives 
do  not  seem  to  say  and  do  the  things  against  the 
existing  property  system  which  these  discontented 
feel.  All  this  is  dissatisfaction  not  with  govern- 
ment, representative  or  otherwise,  but  with  the  ex- 


REPRESENTATIVE  GOVERNMENT 


Criticism   of  Rep- 
resentative Gov- 
ernment Unjust 


Legislators  now 
Represent  Geo- 
graphical Districts 
— not  Communities 


isting  social  order.  Again,  and  on  the  other  hand, 
the  intelligent,  and  the  well  to  do,  and  those  who 
feel  that  they  are  the  leaders  of  the  best  public 
opinion,  look  upon  those  who  represent  us  in  Con- 
gress and  the  legislatures  as  having  fallen  below 
that  degree  of  character,  education,  intelligence, 
ability,  experience,  disinterestedness,  and  patriotism 
which,  they  think,  marked  the  members  of  those 
bodies  in  early  days.  They  are,  therefore,  not  re- 
garded with  the  same  respect  by  all  as  they  were 
earlier  in  the  history  of  the  Republic.  If  this  esti- 
mate of  our  representatives  be  true,  then  it  is  due 
in  part  to  the  fact  that  the  members  are  more  rep- 
resentative of  their  constituents  than  they  were. 
The  enlargement  of  the  franchise  and  the  growing 
consciousness  among  the  less  well  to  do  and  less 
educated  groups  of  their  political  power  have  led 
them  to  select  men  of  their  own  kind  and  views, 
who  are  glad  to  serve;  while  their  critics  among  the 
well  to  do  and  educated  will  not  sacrifice  their  time 
and  effort  to  seek  to  become  members  of  Congress 
or  legislators. 

Another  objection  to  modern  representative  gov- 
ernment, recently  voiced  in  one  of  our  magazines. 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES 
is  that  the  representatives  are  now  chosen  by  sfeo-  Legislators  now 

•^    ^  Represent  Geo- 

£rraphical  districts  determined  bv  numbers,  and  with  graphical  Districts 

^  — not  Communities 

all  sorts  and  conditions  of  people  with  no  unity  of 
opinion;  whereas,  in  the  past,  when  the  system 
worked  well,  they  were  chosen  by  unit  communities 
which  had  and  manifested  community  opinion  to 
which  their  representatives  could  give  certain  and 
definite  voice  in  the  legislative  body.  That  there 
has  been  a  change  of  this  kind  is  probably  true; 
but  it  may  be  doubted  how  much  it  has  interfered 
with  the  true  representative  character  of  the  mem- 
bers. The  modern  legislator,  assuming  he  is  not 
controlled  by  sinister  motives  or  machine  politics, 
does  his  best  to  find  out  what  public  opinion  is  in 
his  constituency  as  indicating  the  wish  of  the  major- 
ity. Indeed,  his  effort  is  often  more  responsive  to 
what  his  constituents  seem  to  desire  than  it  should 
be.  It  is  this  failing  which  has  led  to  the  intro- 
ducing of  so  many  millions  of  bills  to  accomplish       ^^ 

all  sorts  of  impossible  good  things  and  to  the  enact- 
ment of  tons  of  ineffective  laws  of  which  there  is 
no  end. 

The  member  is  too  frequently  more  of  a  delegate  I'^ki'^LegLZr  a 
than  he  is  a   representative.      The  oath  he  takes  ^^^^///^-^^gf/ 
13 


REPRESENTATIVE   GOVERNMENT 


Tendency  is  to 
Make  Legislator  a 
Delegate—not  a 
Representative 


Corruption  of 
Representative 
System 


pledges  him  to  observe  in  his  conduct  the  best  inter- 
ests of  his  state  and  country,  and  he  has  a  higher 
duty  than  that  of  slavishly  follov^ing  the  will  of  his 
constituency  when  their  selfish  or  misguided  views 
lead  them  to  call  on  him  to  vote  for  measures  he 
believes  to  be  injurious  to  the  common  weal.  Of 
course,  he  must  conform  to  the  pledges  of  policy 
on  the  faith  of  which  he  was  elected,  or  else  resign ; 
but,  when  it  comes  to  the  new  issues,  or  methods 
which  were  not  part  of  the  platform  on  which  he 
was  elected,  he  should  follow  his  best  judgment. 
The  merit  of  representative  government,  in  its  best 
example,  is  in  securing  executive  and  legislative 
action  through  men  of  experience  and  ability  chosen 
to  carry  out  the  general  purposes  for  which  they 
were  elected  by  the  people  of  their  respective  con- 
stituencies, in  ways  conforming  to  their  best  judg- 
ment, having  regard  to  the  welfare  of  the  whole 
state  and  all  the  people. 

But  the  questions  are  pressed: 

(a)  Has  not  the  power  of  money  enabled  cor- 
porations and  others  to  corrupt  Congress  and  legis- 
latures? 

(b)  Has  not  our  system  of  political  parties  with 

14 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES 
the  boss  and  the  machine,  its  natural  outgrowth,  Corruption  of 

Representative 

defeated  the  will  of  the  people  in  legislatures  and  System 
Congress  ? 

(c)  Has  not  the  representative  system  produced 
waste  and  corruption  in  the  form  of  local  expendi- 
ture to  gratify  localities  by  the  system  of  log-rolling? 

(d)  Do  not  truthful  answers  to  these  queries  in- 
dicate that  we  must,  by  giving  more  direct  control 
of  matters  to  the  people  by  the  initiative,  the  refer- 
endum, and  the  general  primary,  or  by  some  other 
method,  maintain  the  rule  of  the  people  over  our 
representative  bodies  ? 

The  influence  of  money,  exerted  in  various  ways 
in  our  legislative  bodies,  has  undoubtedly  at  times 
made  representative  government  misrepresentative 
of  the  people.  But  is  that  a  reason  why  we  should 
give  up  the  system  and  look  for  some  other?  One 
form  of  government  is  better  than  another  undoubt- 
edly. One  form  of  government  is  better  adapted 
to  a  particular  people  than  another  form.  It  suits 
their  customs,  their  idiosyncrasies,  their  tendencies 
better;  and  that  is  the  reason  why  it  is  better  to 
grow  into  a  government  gradually  as  we  have  in 
three  centuries,  than  to  have  it  thrust  upon  us.  Too 
15 


REPRESENTATIVE   GOVERNMENT 
Corruption  of         often,  the  fault  ascribed  to  a  form  of  government 

Representative 

System  is  not  due  to  the  particular  machinery  it  employs 

to  interpret  the  will  of  the  people  and  to  give  them 
the  protection  and  the  other  things  a  government 
should  furnish.  It  is  due  to  the  fault  of  the  people 
themselves  in  not  living  up  to  their  own  ideals  and 
in  not  performing  the  duties  in  a  government  that 
they  must  perform,  if  any  government  is  to  work 
at  all. 

Popular  Tolerance       prom  1880  Until  iQOO,  the  people  of  the  United 

of  Abuses  -^  r      r 

States,  having  recovered  largely  from  the  setback 
of  the  Civil  War,  were  so  absorbed  in  material 
expansion  and  the  accumulation  of  wealth  that  they 
gave  little  time  to  supervision  and  care  of  the  work 
of  their  agents  engaged  in  government.  Abuses 
were  thus  able  to  grow.  Indeed  it  would  almost 
seem,  from  the  people's  lack  of  action,  as  if  they 
looked  with  a  tolerant  eye  upon  the  acquisition  by 
corporations  of  valuable  and  discriminating  privi- 
lege which  they  now  strongly  condemn.  All  enter- 
prise took  corporate  form.  It  was  development, 
expansion,  enlargement  of  production,  construction 
for  the  facilities  of  transportation,  which  occupied 
the  mind  and  the  heart  of  the  public.  The  means 
16 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES 
by  which  the  corporations  brought  them  about  were  Popular  Tolerance 

of  Abuses 

not  closely  scrutinized.  Most  people  were  engaged 
in  a  mad  rush  for  wealth;  and  the  material  side 
of  everything  was  exalted  as  the  more  important. 
Business  and  professional  men  were  too  much  en- 
gaged to  take  part  in  politics.  They  could  not 
afford  to  become  candidates  for  the  legislature  or 
for  Congress.  The  public  conscience  was  stilled 
and  dulled  until,  as  a  natural  result,  through  the 
debauchery  of  legislatures  and  the  creation  of  cor- 
rupt machines  and  bosses,  the  political  power  in  this 
country  was  largely  passing  into  corporate  control. 

It  is  a  curious  anomaly  in  our  political  history   Campaign  of  1896 

Demoralising 

that  the  campaign  against  free  silver,  which  was 
fought  and  won  in  the  preservation  of  our  national 
honesty  and  honor,  had  the  effect  to  create  a  cam- 
paign fund  in  behalf  of  the  right  cause,  so  large  as 
to  make  that  campaign  the  most  demoralizing  in 
the  history  of  the  country  in  the  use  of  money  to 
influence  elections. 

While  the  people  had  begun  to  realize  the  neces-  People  Startled 

into  Reform 

sity  for  restraining  the  machmations  of  corporate 

wealth  before  the  end  of  the  last  century,  it  was 

during  the  first  decade  of  this  century  that  they 

17 


REPRESENTATIVE   GOVERNMENT 
People  Startled       were  Startled  into  the  consciousness  of  the  imminent 

into  Reform 

danger  of  the  estabhshment  of  a  plutocracy.  Then 
began  a  reform,  which  manifested  itself  in  many 
specific  ways,  to  curb  the  corrupting  influence  of 
corporate  wealth.  It  had  its  real  effective  and  per- 
manent expression  in  the  action  of  the  people  them- 
selves and  in  the  sensitiveness  of  public  opinion, 
which  brought  about  a  radical  and  purifying  change. 
Present  Conditions  It  is  too  much  to  say  that  the  influence  of  money 
in  politics  has  been  eliminated;  but  certainly  in  this 
respect  great  improvement  is  evident.  Corpora- 
tions that  have  been  the  chief  offenders  have  been 
driven  out  of  political  activity  not  only  by  laws 
forbidding  contributions  to  campaign  funds,  but 
more  effectively  by  public  opinion  and  w^atchfulness. 
Nothing  now  so  surely  defeats  one  with  political 
aspirations  as  to  be  known  as  having  corporate  sup- 
port. The  petitions  of  corporations  for  legislative 
action  are  scrutinized  with  a  suspicion  and  hostility 
which  frequently  do  injustice.  An  important  fea- 
ture of  the  reform  has  been  the  dissolution  of  the 
bond  between  corporations  and  the  political  boss. 
He  was  created  as  a  power  by  the  supposed  needs 
of  corporations  which  wished  to  avoid  "strikes" 
i8 


IN    THE   UNITED    STATES 
and  "blackmail"  by  councilmen  and  legislators  on  Present  Conditions 

improved 

the  one  hand,  and  wished  to  secure  special  and  sin- 
ister privilege  from  them  on  the  other.  The  posi- 
tion of  boss  was  made  lucrative  by  this  corporate 
association.  We  hear  but  little  real  evidence  of  the 
prevalence  of  the  old  time  boss  system  in  our  politics 
now.  The  term  is  often  used  to  characterize  and 
disparage  political  opponents;  and  some  old  bosses 
do  survive,  but  they  do  not  flourish.  Their  power 
for  corporate  evil  in  legislation  has  largely  de- 
parted; and  one  of  the  chief  reasons  for  this  is  the 
fear  w^hich  has  been  put  into  the  heart  of  corporate 
managers  of  expending  money  in  political  manipu- 
lation. They  have  found  it  far  wiser  to  appeal  to 
the  public  on  the  justice  of  their  case,  and  to  spend 
money  in  securing  publicity  for  their  arguments. 

This  brings  me  to  the  question  how  far  party  ^ffe<:t  of  Party  on 

^  ^  -^     the  Representative 

politics  have  weakened  our  representative  system.  System 
Under  the  rule  of  the  corrupt  boss,  when  he  used 
the  party  organization  as  a  mere  machine  to  put  his 
tools  in  the  legislature  and  to  use  them  for  purposes 
which  filled  his  pockets  with  corporation  money,  the 
result  was  a  disgrace  not  only  to  the  legislatures 
but  to  our  people.  It  was  natural  for  the  people  to 
19 


REPRESENTATIVE   GOVERNMENT 

fiw^Relie^entathe  charge  it  to  the  representative  system  and  to  insist 
^'■^'^"^  that  all  men  had  their  price  and  that  we  must  make 

a  change  in  which  we  could  get  along  without  trust- 
ing anyone.  In  some  states,  they  acted  on  this  view. 
But  in  the  end,  the  progress  toward  better  things 
was  effected  in  other  states  and  quite  as  effectively, 
without  much  legislation,  by  a  radical  change  of 
the  attitude  of  the  people  themselves. 
Condemnation  of        ^hc   influence    of   party   and   party    spirit   upon 

Parties  a  Fashion  r        j  l         j       i  i 

our  representative  system  of  government  has  been 
thought  by  many  in  the  past  to  have  little  to  com- 
mend it.  Its  evils  have  been  emphasized;  and  its 
utility,  if  any  has  been  conceded,  has  been  only 
grudgingly  recognized.  The  term  "non-partisan" 
has  been  regarded  as  synonymous  with  "virtuous," 
"patriotic,"  and  "disinterested."  A  party  man  has, 
in  the  teachings  in  the  class-room  and  in  commence- 
ment addresses,  not  infrequently  been  held  up  as  in 
contrast  with  the  patriot  and  the  reformer,  recalling 
Goldsmith's  lines  on  Burke: 

Who,  born  for  the  universe,  narrow'd  his  mind, 
And  to  party  gave  up  what  was  meant  for  mankind. 


IN    THE   UNITED    STATES 
But  parties  are  necessary  in  carrying  on  govern-  Parties  Necessary 

in  Popular  Gov- 

ment  by  the  people.  The  problem  of  self-govern-  emment 
ment  is  not  so  easy  as  it  seems.  It  is  necessarily 
the  rule  of  the  majority,  and  we  must  have  some 
means  of  interpreting  into  governmental  action 
what  the  will  of  that  majority  is.  If  the  members 
of  the  electorate  in  this  country  who  actually  vote 
in  an  election  number  twenty  millions,  how  are  a 
majority  of  that  number,  say  eleven  millions,  going 
to  agree  on  any  governmental  policy  at  all?  They 
can  not  reach  an  agreement  without  organization. 
Left  alone,  there  would  be  almost  as  many  differing 
views  in  detail  as  there  are  individuals;  and  govern- 
mental action  would  be  impossible.  The  only  way 
in  which  they  can  act  together  is  to  agree  on  general 
principles,  waive  minor  differences,  and  combine  in 
what  we  call  a  party.  They  must  themselves  put 
into  operation  machinery  to  declare  a  platform  of 
principles  and  to  select  candidates  who,  if  elected, 
will  carry  them  out. 

Our  two  great  parties  divided  originally  on  the  We  have  had  Two 

Great  Parties  since 

question  whether  this  country  should  be  a  nation  our  Beginning 
or  only  be  a  league  of  states  retaining  their  sov- 
ereign powers.     The  controversy  was  made  more 

21 


REPRESENTy\TIVE   GOVERNMENT 
We  have  had  Tivo   acutc  bv  the  gTowtli  of  the  supDosed  economic  value 

Great  Parties  since 

our  Beginning  of  slavery  and  the  importance  to  the  slave  owners 
and  the  slave-holding  states  of  the  maintenance  of 
the  states  rights  doctrine.  The  issue  between  the 
parties  continued  from  the  beginning  of  the  last 
century  until  the  Civil  War,  when  the  responsibility 
for  the  carrying  on  of  the  war  was  assumed  by  the 
Republican  party.  The  necessity  for  supplying  the 
government  with  the  sinews  of  war  fitted  in  with 
the  doctrine  of  protection,  first  advocated  by  Alex- 
ander Hamilton  for  the  promotion  of  manufactures 
and  continued  as  the  American  policy  under  the 
Whigs  and  Clay.  The  Republican  party,  as  suc- 
cessor of  the  Whigs,  thus  became  a  protection  party, 
while  the  Democratic  party  adopted  the  principle  of 
free  trade  or  a  tarifif  for  revenue  only.  This  has 
been  a  continuing  issue  of  sufficient  importance  to 
maintain  the  party  alignment.  We  have  thus  had 
in  the  country  two  great  parties,  and  only  two,  and 
they  continue  to-day. 

Why  the  Great  While  their  influence  over  their  respective  mem- 

Parties  Live 

bers  varies  from  campaign  to  campaign,  and  men 
change  from  one  to  another  on  issues  newly  arising, 
these  two  parties  have  acquired  a  persistence  of  life 


IN    THE   UNITED    STATES 
which  shows  no  siern  of  abatement.     The  interest   ^jfhy  the  Great 

Parties  Live 

that  some  people  take  in  them  is  stimulated  of  course 
by  their  personal  hope  that,  when  their  party  wins, 
they  will  be  rewarded  by  official  position;  but  the 
rewards  are  not  sufficiently  numerous  or  great  to 
explain  the  party  interest  of  the  great  body  of  each 
party.  Party  members  retain  their  party  loyalty, 
perhaps  because  they  have  inherited  the  attachment, 
often  because  of  what  may  be  called  sporting  inter- 
est in  it,  but  usually  because  their  minds  have  been 
trained  to  acquiesce  in  the  party  judgment  and  the 
party  platform,  and  to  associate  party  success  with 
the  best  interests  of  the  people  and  the  country. 

The  rank  and  file  of  each  of  the  great  parties.  Non-party  Men 

Useful 

its  thick  and  thin  supporters,  constitute  perhaps  a 
majority.  Then  there  are  others  upon  whom  the 
party  tie  rests  lightly  and  is  easily  severed.  Then 
there  are  many  of  the  most  intelligent  voters  who 
recognize  no  party  allegiance  but  who  vote  at  each 
election  as  their  judgment  of  men  and  policies  ap- 
proves. These  last  two  classes  change  from  one 
side  to  the  other  and  decide  elections.  They  are  a 
valuable  element  in  the  body  politic.  Their  influ- 
ence is  felt  not  in  the  party  councils,  but  in  the  final 
23 


REPRESENTATIVE   GOVERNMENT 
Non-party  Men       result.     It  is  the  regulars,  however,  who  are  most 

Useful  ^ 

influential  in  guiding  the  party's  poHcy  and  in  select- 
ing the  party's  candidates.  But  the  regulars  with 
a  sense  of  responsibility  should  and  often  do  have 
a  healthy  fear  of  the  independent  voters  whose 
judgment  will  be  weighty  in  determining  party  suc- 
cess or  defeat. 
Party  Evils  j^    legislation,    the    party    whip    is    sometimes 

cracked,  and  the  better  and  conscientious  judgment 
of  the  minority  of  a  party  is  made  to  yield  to  the 
caucus  majority  in  order  to  pass  a  bad  measure. 
In  administration,  the  tendency  of  party  regulars 
is  to  oust  from  office  as  many  of  the  other  party 
as  possible  and  to  substitute  the  victors  in  offices 
regarded  as  legitimate  spoil,  no  matter  how  efficient 
the  incumbents.  This  building  up  of  party  strength 
and  organization  out  of  patronage  at  the  expense 
of  the  public  has  long  been  an  evil  due  to  parties, 
though  its  extent  has  been  greatly  curtailed  by  the 
civil  service  law  and  regulations.  Conditions  in 
this  regard  have  been  much  improved  in  half  a 
century.  I  have  already  alluded  to  the  opportunity 
for  corruption  that  the  party  machine  conducted 
by  a  boss  offers,  and  have  pointed  out  that  in  that 
24 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES 

respect,  too,  conditions  have  bettered.     Still  these  Party  Evils 
debits  to  the  party  system  must  be  conceded. 

The  striking  advantage  on  the  other  hand,  which  f^f cZfMrt'iTs 
our  democracy  and  representative  system  gain  by 
reason  of  these  two  large  parties,  is  in  the  fact  that 
they  are  each  made  up  of  all  classes  and  conditions. 
Their  cleavage  is  vertical  and  not  horizontal.  Each 
includes  the  well  to  do,  the  moderate  circumstanced, 
and  the  poor.  Each  includes  the  capitalist  and  the 
working  man,  the  educated  and  the  ignorant.  Each 
views  questions  and  politics  from  the  standpoint  of 
all  the  people.  In  order  that  each  may  command 
support  from  each  class  and  group  of  people,  each 
must  shape  its  policies  to  be  fair  to  each  class,  and 
not  to  exclude  consideration  of  other  classes.  They 
can  not  be  selfish  in  seeking  the  welfare  of  one 
group,  because  their  constituent  elements,  if  they 
would  hold  them  together,  forbid.  Party  success 
thus  bids  them  to  take  an  obviously  patriotic  course, 
having  the  interests  of  all  in  view. 

The  dansfer  to  the  body  politic  in  these  days  is  Danger  from 

°  Class  Parties  and 

the  attempt  of  a  class  to  use  the  government  for  Groups 
itself  and  to  ignore  altogether  the  rights  and  benefits 
of  the  rest  of  society.     The  Socialist  party  is  en- 

25 


REPRESENTATIVE   GOVERNMENT 
Danger  from         gaged  in  seeking  to  arouse  discontent  against  the 

Class    Parties   and    ^    ^  ^  ^ 

Groups  well  to  do,  and  to  create  a  class  war.    A  great  many 

laborers  and  extremists  in  the  labor  unions  would 
constitute,  if  they  could,  a  class  party,  having  the 
interests  of  no  others  in  mind  except  the  laborers. 
Witness  the  bitter  fight  waged  by  organized  labor 
against  the  creation  of  state  constabularies  to  main- 
tain law  and  order  in  the  sparsely  settled  communi- 
ties of  our  states.  Rural  crime  and  lynchings  are 
shocking,  and  show  the  absolute  necessity  for  such 
state  protection;  but,  for  fear  that  state  constables 
may  be  used  to  enforce  the  law  in  case  of  lawless 
violence  due  to  strikes,  labor  unions  oppose  this 
much  needed  reform. 

No  Labor  Party.       Within  receut  years,  a  dangerous  disposition  has 

Prevented  by  .  .  . 

Great  Parties  been  manifested  in  organized  labor  to  threaten  a 
general  strike  in  a  field  of  activity  like  transpor- 
tation, or  coal  mining,  the  continuity  of  which  is 
essential  to  the  life  of  the  country,  in  order  to  choke 
the  country  and  Congress  into  a  compliance  with 
the  economic  demands  of  this  particular  class  of 
labor.  This  is  the  selfish  and  Bolshevistic  use  of  a 
combination  of  a  minority  to  compel  a  majority  to 
\    yield  to  its  demands.     Were  a  party  to  be  based  on 

26 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES 
such   a  plan,   it   would   threaten  the  public   safety,   ^'o  Labor  Party. 

Prevented   by 

But  the  two  great  parties  we  may  count  on  as  an  Great  Parties 
obstacle  to  this.  It  is  the  great  body  of  laborers 
whose  fealty  to  one  or  the  other  of  the  great  parties 
prevents  the  successful  organization  of  such  a  labor 
class  party  in  this  country.  No  man  is  able  to  de- 
liver the  labor  vote  in  an  election;  and  the  labor 
leaders  have  been  wise  enough,  therefore,  not  to 
encourage  the  organization  of  a  labor  party.  They 
know  too  well  that  an  effort  of  that  sort  would 
disclose  in  the  ballot  only  a  comparatively  small 
number  of  working  men  who  wish  to  subordinate 
their  political  activity  as  Americans  to  the  narrow     '  ~~ 

class  policy  of  a  labor  party. 

There  has  also  been  a  combination  of  farmers,  Non-Partisan 

League 

called  the  Non-Partisan  League,  originating  in 
North  Dakota,  and  spreading  to  neighboring  states. 
That  is  not  a  patriotic  American  party.  It  has  been 
made  possible  by  the  insistence  of  a  number  of  un- 
successful and  in  many  instances  of  foreign  born 
farmers  in  North  Dakota,  who  w^ere  aroused  by  a 
real  grievance,  as  to  grain  classification  and  rates, 
and  who  conceived  the  idea  that  through  a  political 
combination  they  could  exclude  every  other  class 
27 


REPRESENTATIVE   GOVERNMENT 

Non-Partisan  and  cvcry  Other  interest  and  run  the  state  for  the 

^"^"^  farmers  alone.     They  adopted  state  sociahsm  and 

proceeded  to  do  state  banking  and  state  warehous- 
ing, and  to  perform  all  the  other  functions  essential 
to  the  marketing  of  their  crops  by  the  state  agencies. 
They  organized  the  legislature,  and  ran  it  by  a  cau- 
cus of  the  Non-Partisan  League.  They  excluded 
lawyers  and  all  but  farmers  from  the  legislature. 
For  a  time  they  were  able  to  exercise  absolute  au- 
thority. They  sought  to  control  both  the  old  par- 
ties through  the  general  primaries,  and  for  a  time 
succeeded  in  this.  They  have  made  a  lamentable 
economic  failure.  They  can  not  maintain  them- 
selves. Their  leaders  are  real  socialists  and  seek, 
in  disguised  ways,  to  have  the  state  acquire  all  the 
land,  while  this  is  the  last  thing  which  farmers  who 
constitute  the  party  favor.  So,  too,  their  attempted 
union  with  the  I.  W.  W.  and  extreme  laborites  is 
mixing  oil  and  water.  Their  power  is  waning;  the 
old  parties  are  returning  to  control.  They  have 
been  a  tyrannical  class  party  whom  it  is  greatly  in 
the  public  interest  to  have  disappear. 

Objection  is  made  to  party  discipline  in  the  great 
parties;  but  there  is  no  such  discipline  in  the  great 
28 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES 
parties  as  occurs  in  the  class  parties.    The  Sociahsts,  Non-Partisan 

League 

the  Non-Partisan  League,    the    extreme    laborites, 
rule  their  followers  with  a  rod  of  iron. 

In  our  representative  system,  we  must,  however.  One  Weakness  in 

our  Representative 

recosnize  a  weakness  that  has  proved  at  times  to  System— Undue 

influence  of  Mi- 
he  serious  and  that  the  existence  of  both  parties  has  "orities  as  to 

bound   Legislation 

not  enabled  us  to  avoid.  A  faction,  a  minority,  a 
class  group,  seeks  legislation.  It  is  in  respect  to 
some  social  or  economic  phase  of  conditions  upon 
which  public  opinion  has  not  been  aroused  and  upon 
which  the  great  parties  have  not  expressed  them- 
selves. The  group  is  a  minority  in  every  district, 
but  it  has  votes  enough  in  each  district  or  in  many 
districts  to  convince  the  members  of  the  legislative 
body  that  it  can  wield  a  balance  of  power  as  between 
the  two  evenly  matched  parties  and  elect  or  defeat 
a  candidate.  In  this  way,  in  times  past,  first  the 
liquor  men  and  then  the  Prohibitionists  wielded  an 
undue  weight  of  influence.  This  was  true  also  of 
the  Woman  Suffragists.  So  now  the  labor  unions 
are  able  to  further  or  defeat  measures,  not  on  their 
merits,  but  by  such  a  threat.  The  defect  can  only 
be  remedied  by  persistent  publicity  and  by  holding 
the  trimmers  up  to  public  condemnation.  It  is 
29 


REPRESENTATIVE   GOVERNMENT 


Undue  Influence 
of  Minorities 


Foreign  Factions 
and.  Classes 


Tivo  Great  Parlies 
a   Conservative 
Influence 


another  instance  where  the  whole  pubUc  must  "get 
busy." 

Then  there  are  groups  whose  interest  in  other 
countries  than  this  is  so  intense  and  exclusive  that 
they  would  ignore  the  welfare  of  the  United  States 
by  dragging  us  into  conduct  forcing  war  with  a 
friendly  country.  Such  is  the  purpose  of  Irish  ex- 
tremists in  respect  to  Great  Britain.  Similarly  the 
pro-Germans  would  involve  us  with  France.  But, 
as  against  any  serious  yielding  to  such  purpose 
inconsistent  with  the  general  welfare  of  the  whole 
country,  our  two  great  parties  offer  a  complete 
defense.  These  great  parties  do  at  times  by  in- 
effective resolutions  seek  to  propitiate  one  or  an- 
other of  these  groups;  but,  when  the  issue  becomes 
really  serious,  when  we  are  brought  face  to  face 
with  the  danger  into  which  such  groups  would  lead 
us,  then  each  party  declines  to  serve  their  purpose. 

The  two  great  parties  represent  the  conservative 
attitude  of  the  body  politic  of  the  United  States. 
They  hold  us  to  the  principle  that  we  are  Americans 
first  and  that  our  class  preferences,  if  we  have  any, 
are  second.  Their  continued  existence  keeps  us  in 
that  condition  of  mind.  To  know  how  useful  our 
30 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES 
ereat  parties  are  in  this  regard,  we  should  look  at   T"-^'o  Great  Parties 

^  ^  a   Conservative 

Other  countries.  The  labor  party  in  Great  Britain,  influence 
which  with  socialistic  tendencies  threatens  at  times 
to  sweep  the  country,  and  is  insistent  on  determin- 
ing its  foreign  policy;  the  ten  or  more  different 
parties  and  groups  in  France,  making  every  min- 
istry nothing  but  a  compromise  in  legislation  which 
must  necessarily  defeat  broad  and  useful  measures; 
the  development  of  class  hatred  and  its  triumph  for 
the  time  being  in  Russia,  and  its  threat  against  the 
stability  of  other  European  countries:  all  these  re- 
veal to  us,  as  we  never  knew  it  before,  the  defensive 
advantage  of  our  party  system;  and,  while  it  should 
not  blind  us  to  the  evils  of  excessive  partisanship, 
it  certainly  furnishes  no  reason  why  we  should  give 
up  representative  government. 

Another  ground  for  attack  on  the  representative  Log-Roiiing_  in  our 

Representative 

system  is  the  disposition  of  legislatures  and  of  Con-  System 
gress  to  waste  public  moneys  by  an  effort  to  capture 
the  favor  of  localities  through  excessive  expendi- 
ture, for  local  purposes  or  for  alleged  state  or  na- 
tional purposes  in  localities,  which  no  privately 
managed  concern  would  think  of  spending  for  gen- 
eral governmental  purposes.  This  is  a  just  criti- 
31 


REPRESENTATIVE   GOVERNMENT 
Log-RoUiiui  in  our  cism.     The   injurious    result   is   brought   about   by 

Representative 

System  "log-rolHng,"  as  it  is  called.     Each  member  is  in- 

terested in  promoting  an  expenditure  in  his  own 
district,  and  is  moved,  partly  at  least,  by  the  thought 
that  in  the  expenditure  his  constituents  will  secure 
a  personal  benefit.  The  rivers  and  harbors  bill  and 
the  public  buildings  bill  are  examples  in  national 
legislation.  They  have  long  been  called  the  "pork 
barrel"  out  of  which  each  of  many  members  is  sup- 
posed to  get  part  of  the  pork.  The  wasteful  char- 
acter of  these  bills  has,  however,  been  greatly  exag- 
gerated, though  they  are  bad  enough  as  they  are, 
and  the  field  for  the  abuse  is  enlarging  itself,  now 
that  under  the  general  welfare  provision  of  the  tax- 
ation clause  of  the  Constitution  we  are  venturing, 
perhaps  necessarily,  into  assistance  to  the  states  in 
the  construction  of  roads  and  in  the  betterment  of 
their  education  facilities.  Still  this  evil  does  not 
arise  from  any  attempt  of  the  representatives  to 
misrepresent  their  home  districts.  The  districts 
themselves  force  upon  their  representatives  the  obli- 
gation to  seek  such  distribution  of  pork.  There  is 
nothing  quite  so  selfish  as  a  community  seeking  to 
share  a  general  fund  for  local  purposes;  and  the 
32 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES 
evil,  if  it  be  an  evil,  is  one  arising  from  the  glaring  Log-Roiimg  in  our 

Representative 

cupidity  of  the  people  of  a  locality,  as  distinguished  System 
from  the  fairer  and  juster  attitude  of  individuals 
making  up  that  community.  Such  an  evil,  there- 
fore, can  hardly  be  charged  to  the  representative 
system  of  government,  as  distinguished  from  one 
of  direct  voting;  for  the  origin  of  the  evil  is  in  the 
people  at  home. 

And  now  what  of  the  remedies  proposed  for  what  influence  of  Presi- 
dent as  Party 

is  called  the  failure  of  the  representative  system?  Leader  m  Depar- 
ture from  Repre- 

Certainly  there  is  no  desire  to  recur  to  the  monarch-  tentative  System 

ical  system  or  one-man  power.  It  has  been  said 
that  the  representative  system  is  gradually  chang- 
ing, so  that  power  is  vesting  itself  in  the  President 
or  in  the  governor.  With  the  necessity  for  parties 
in  order  to  secure  effective  action  according  to  the 
will  of  the  people,  the  President,  who  is  the  titular 
head  of  the  party  that  elected  him,  should  work  in 
unison  with  the  majority  of  his  party  in  each  House. 
This  is  essential  not  only  to  party  success  but  to 
real  efficiency  in  the  public  interest.  If  he  has  suc- 
cessful elements  of  leadership,  the  people  look  to 
him  as  responsible  for  legislation.  That  is  depend- 
ent on  the  personal  characteristics  of  the  President. 
33 


REPRESENTATIVE   GOVERNMENT 


Influence  of  Prcsi-   The   President  is  himself  a   representative   of  the 

dent  as  Party 

Leader  no  Dcpar-   people  and  Selected  by  all  of  them,  as  distinguished 

ture  from  Repre- 
sentative System  from  Congressmen  and  senators,  who  are  repre- 
sentatives of  states  and  districts.  It  is  thus  natural 
that  the  President  should  not  infrequently  have  the 
sympathy  and  support  of  all  the  people  as  against 
the  representative,  legislative  bodies.  But  this  is 
not  a  departure  from  representative  government: 
it  is  only  a  phase  of  it.  Certainly  neither  House 
is  going  to  give  up  its  constitutional  rights;  but 
when  the  majority  in  each  follows  the  leadership 
of  the  President,  and  that  leadership  is  w^orthy,  it 
is  a  result  to  be  commended  and  one  which  makes 
no  ground  for  criticism  of  the  representative  sys- 
tem. The  same  thing  is  true  of  a  governor  and  the 
state  legislature. 

In  the  days  when  there  was  a  popular  revulsion 
of  feeling  because  of  the  revelations  of  corruption 
and  of  corporate  control  of  politics,  the  people  in 
many  Western  states  especially,  felt  that  American 
impulse  to  find  in  a  mechanical  device  some  remedy 
for  an  evil,  no  matter  how^  deep  it  may  lie  in  the 
origin  of  things.  This  corruption  had  grown  out 
of  a  certain  form  of  democracy,  and  the  cure  for 
34 


Initiative  and 
Referendum 


IN   THE    UNITED    STATES 
it  was  to  be  found  in  greater  democracy.     The  rep-  initiative  and 

Referendum 

resentatives  had  shown  themselves  unworthy  of 
trust  and  therefore  the  work  which  they  had  been 
appointed  to  do  must  be  done  by  the  people  them- 
selves. Thus  came  the  initiative,  the  referendum, 
and  the  general  primary.  The  initiative  and  refer- 
endum have  been  adopted  in  perhaps  one-third  of 
the  states,  as  a  result  of  the  wave  of  feeling  to  which 
I  have  referred.  To  the  extent  to  which  they  have 
been  adopted,  they  do  show  a  lack  of  confidence  of 
the  people  in  the  purely  representative  system,  but 
there  has  evidently  been  a  halt  in  the  movement, 
and  one  may  hazard  the  opinion  that  it  is  not  likely 
to  spread. 

For  thirty  years  after  the  organization  of  the 
government,  even  the  constitutions  of  the  states 
were  adopted  only  by  representative  bodies.  After 
that,  the  custom  grew  to  submit  the  finished  con- 
stitution to  a  vote  of  the  people  before  it  could  have 
sanction.  As  the  constitution  was  to  be  funda- 
mental law,  this  addition  to  its  sanction  was  a  nat- 
ural and  proper  one;  and,  while  in  many  instances 
the  people  who  voted  for  it  or  against  it  may  not 
have  understood  it,  a  vote  in  its  behalf  tended  to 
35 


REPRESENTATIVE   GOVERNMENT 
Initiative  and  confirm  the  view  that  it  was  really  the  voice  of  all 

Referendum 

the  people.  Such  votes  were  rare  and  coming  only 
at  intervals  of  several  decades  were  accepted  as  the 
natural  requirement  for  the  fixing  of  reasonably 
permanent  fundamental  principles.  But  the  move- 
ment to  which  I  refer  is  an  institution  requiring 
that  all  laws  be  subject  to  popular  approval,  and 
that  even  without  the  intervention  of  the  legislature, 
upon  the  petition  of  a  certain  percentage  of  the 
voters,  a  law  prepared  by  that  percentage  must  be 
accepted  or  rejected  by  the  people  without  further 
consideration  or  amendment. 
Objections  to  Ref-       The  objection  to  the  initiative  and  referendum 

erendum   and 

Initiative  for  all  laws  is,  that,  while  they  seem  to  give  the 

public  an  opportunity  to  supervise  and  revise  the 
action  of  the  legislature,  as  a  matter  of  fact  they 
involve  the  electorate  in  such  a  complicated  and 
oppressive  task  in  considering  the  details  of  legis- 
lation, that  the  voters  will  not  respond  to  the  duty, 
and  the  settlement  of  the  issues  presented  is  left  to 
'  a  comparatively  small  percentage  of  the  electorate, 
so  that  the  vote  recorded  is  not  really  a  satisfactory 
evidence  of  the  popular  will.  It  is  no  reflection  on 
the  most  intelligent  voters  to  say  that  they  can  not 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES 

exercise  a  useful  judgment  with  reference  to  stat-  Objections  to  Ref- 
erendum and 
utes  which  they  have  not  heard  debated,  and  which  initiative 

they  are  unable  to  give  the  necessary  time  fully  to 
understand.  Still  less  satisfactory  is  the  judgment 
of  voters  who  are  not  intelligent.  The  initiative  is 
the  compelling,  at  the  dictation  of  a  small  percent- 
age of  the  electorate,  the  rest  of  that  electorate  to 
consider  the  proposed  bills  which  have  not  been 
through  the  mill  of  legislative  discussion  and  which 
have  been  drawn  by  enthusiasts  often  without  a 
knowledge  of  existing  law  and  generally  with  very 
little  conception  of  the  practical  operation  of  that 
which  they  present.  Of  course,  there  are  certain 
issues,  like  that  of  prohibition  or  license,  upon  which 
all  have  an  opinion ;  and,  upon  such  an  issue,  a  refer- 
endum is  illuminating  upon  the  question  of  public 
opinion.  But  to  give  the  initiative  and  referendum 
universal  application  is  merely  to  clog  the  wheels  of 
government,  to  invite  people  to  the  performance  of 
duties  which  they  will  not  perform.  In  the  refer- 
endum a  refuge  is  given  those  members  of  the  legis- 
lature who  are  not  willing  to  take  responsibility,  to 
escape  it.  It  is  not  likely  to  improve  the  tone  of 
legislators.  I  don't  suppose  that  the  grant  of  such 
2>7 


REPRESENTATIVE   GOVERNMENT 


Objections  to  Ref- 
erendum and 
Initiative 


The  General 
Primary 


power  will  be  withdrawn  in  the  states  where  it  now 
exists;  but  I  do  look  for  the  surrounding  of  its  exer- 
cise by  limitations  and  exceptions,  so  as  to  make  it 
operative  in  fewer  and  fewer  cases,  until  it  ceases 
to  be  a  matter  of  much  importance. 

One  of  the  evidences  of  popular  distrust  in  the 
representative  system  has  been  the  adoption  of  the 
General  Primary,  and  it  has  had  a  much  wider 
acceptance  than  either  the  initiative  or  the  referen- 
dum. In  the  organization  of  parties,  it  was  natural 
and  logical  to  use  a  representative  system  in  the 
determination  of  party  policy  and  the  selection  of 
party  candidates;  and  so  delegates  to  a  convention 
were  selected  by  small  party  units  for  the  city,  the 
county,  the  state,  and  the  nation;  and  the  delegates 
sitting  in  convention  selected  the  party  candidates 
for  the  city,  for  the  county,  for  the  state,  and  for 
the  nation.  A  party  was  treated  in  the  old  time 
as  a  voluntary  association  which  was  usually  out- 
side the  law  and  not  to  be  regulated  by  it.  This 
condition  was  seized  upon  by  the  bosses  and  corrupt 
machines  as  a  means  of  fastening  their  power  upon 
the  party. 

The  meetings  or  caucuses  in  which  the  delegates 
38 


IN    THE   UNITED    STATES 
were  selected  were  taken  control  of,  the  conventions  Conventions 

Corrupt 

were  filled  with  the  creatures  of  the  boss,  and  many 
who  are  not  his  creatures  were  suborned,  so  that 
the  corrupt  rule  of  party  organization  was  estab- 
lished, and  maintined  for  sinister  corporate  and 
other  purposes. 

In  the  awakening,  which  I  have  described,  at  the  Conventions 

Abolished 

beginning  of  this  century,  a  hue  and  cry  was  raised 
for  the  abolition  of  the  convention  as  the  cause  and 
means  of  corruption.  Legislatures  forbade  con- 
ventions, and  passed  elaborate  laws  for  the  selection 
of  officials  by  a  general  party  primary,  that  have 
been  in  operation  now  for  nearly  twenty  years.  The 
national  convention  still  remains;  but  the  selection 
of  delegates  to  that  convention  is  regulated  in  many 
of  the  districts  and  states  by  the  general  primary 
law.  We  have  had  a  fairly  good  opportunity  to 
judge  of  its  operation.  It  did  destroy  corruption 
in  conventions,  because  it  abolished  them. 

Did  it  destroy  the  machine  nomination  of  can-  Primary  Did  Not 

Destroy  Machine 

didates?     I  think  not.     One  objectionable  assump-  Nominations 
tion  in  the  primary  law  is  that  no  man  can  be  a 
candidate  for  office  who  does  not  seek  it.     He  must 
make  himself  an  applicant  in  a  formal  method.    The 
39 


REPRESENTATIVE   GOVERNMENT 


Primary  Did  Not 
Destroy  Machine 
N  ominations 


No  Responsibility 
for  Fitness   of 
Candidates 


door   is   Open   to   all   who   seek.     Their  names  are 
placed  upon  a  ticket,  and  the  choice  is  made  of  him 
who  has  a  plurality  of  the  votes  as  the  candidate  of 
the  party.     The  number  of  candidates  and  the  small 
vote  at  a  general  primary  as  compared  with   the 
total  electorate,  enables  the  organization,  which  al- 
ways has  at  its  command  more  active  workers,  to 
secure  in  any  ordinary  primary  a  plurality  for  the 
organization  candidate,  unless  there  is  some  active 
candidate  who  has  himself  created  an  organization 
to  call  out  the  vote.     But  such  an  organization  re- 
quires money  legitimately  spent  and  a  great  deal 
of  it.     The  result  therefore  usually  is  that  the  can- 
didate is  either  the  candidate  of  the  organization 
or  a  wealthy  man  who  has  spent  a  large  amount  of 
money  to  beat  the  organization  candidate.    All  other 
candidates  usually  fail.     The  boss  is  not  dethroned. 
There  is  no  responsibility  upon  the  party  or  a 
party  organization  for  the  selection  of  a  candidate. 
The  result  is  supposed  to  be  the  people's  choice,  and 
neither  the  boss  nor  the  machine  is  responsible.     In 
a  primary  that  covers  an  extensive  district,   it  is 
impossible  for  the  great  bulk  of  the  voters  to  know 
the   candidates   or   to   discriminate  between   them; 
40 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES 
and  all  sorts  of  fortuitous  circumstances  determine  ^^o   Responsibility 

for  Fitness  of 

the  choice,  rather  than  a  knowledge  of  the  fitness  Candidates 
of  the  person  selected.  The  man  whose  name  be- 
gins with  "A"  and  is  therefore  first  in  the  list,  has 
a  much  greater  chance  of  selection  than  he  whose 
name  begins  with  a  letter  far  down  the  alphabet. 
Any  sort  of  notoriety,  whether  based  on  commend- 
able qualities  or  not,  secures  support.  The  choices 
are  made  without  discrimination,  therefore,  and  the 
average  fitness  of  the  candidates  for  office  has  been 
distinctly  lowered  throughout  the  region  where  the 
general  primary  has  been  in  operation. 

It  is  asked,  "Would  you  restore  the  old  corrupt  Convention  Sys- _ 

.        -„       „  .  ,  ,  ,  ,        tern  under  Practi- 

convention  t       Ui  course  one  would  not  have  the  cai  Restrictions 

.  .  .  ,  ,  ,  ,  never  Given  a 

old  corrupt  convention,  although  one  must  say  that.  Trial 
even  under  that  boss-ridden  and  corrupt  system, 
there  was  some  sense  of  responsibility  in  the  choice 
of  candidates,  now  absent,  growing  out  of  the  fear 
of  an  adverse  verdict  at  the  polls  if  some  competent 
men  were  not  put  upon  the  ticket.  There  was  a 
chance  under  that  system  for  the  ofifice  to  seek  the 
man;  but,  under  the  primary  system,  that  is  impos- 
sible. It  is  enough  to  say  that  the  convention  sys- 
tem was  never  given  any  opportunity  to  demonstrate 
41 


REPRESENTATIVE   GOVERNMENT 
Convention  System  its  uscfulncss  bv  mcasures  to  Safeguard  it  against 

under   Practical 

Restrictions  never  corruption.     The   legislature  can   make   as   precise 

Given  a  Trial 

and  careful  provisions  for  the  selection  of  delegates 
to  a  county  or  a  state  convention  as  it  does  to  the 
election  of  candidates  in  a  general  primary.  It  can 
surround  the  certificate  of  election  and  the  seating 
of  the  lawfully  selected  delegate  in  the  convention 
with  the  same  protection  as  it  now  gives  to  the  title 
of  a  candidate  elected  in  a  primary.  An  honestly 
elected  set  of  honest  delegates  to  a  convention  make 
up  a  deliberative  body  far  better  able,  because  with 
more  knowledge,  to  select  competent  candidates  for 
the  offices  to  be  filled.  Bribery  in  such  a  convention 
can  be  made  a  crime  as  any  other  violation  of  the 
safeguarding  law  may  be.  The  general  primary 
does  not  avoid  corruption  where  wealthy  men  are 
candidates,  and  it  greatly  increases  the  amount  of 
money  used  by  candidates. 
'DepHvis^Part'^^f  ^  great  abusc  under  the  general  primary  system 
Legitimate  Self-     j^^s  been  that  the  loyal  members  of  the  party  have 

control  •'  r        J 

often  been  prevented  from  making  their  own  selec- 
tions, by  the  intervention  of  men  who  claim  the 
right  to  vote,  as  members  of  the  party,  but  who  are 
really  not  so,  and  who  intend  to  vote  the  other  party 
42 


TN   THE    UNITED    STATES 
ticket.     A  convention  will  be  easily  able  to  see  to  it  General  Primary 

Deprives  Party  of 

that  no  delegate  is  admitted  who  is  not  a  loyal  mem-  Legitimate  Seif- 

conirol 

ber  of  the  party.  It  should  be  made  a  sine  qua  non 
of  admission  to  the  convention.  A  party  has  a 
right  to  determine  for  itself  its  policies  and  its  can- 
didates ;  and  it  has  a  right  to  exclude  from  its  coun- 
cils and  the  selection  of  its  candidates  the  partici- 
pation of  non-members. 

The  general  primary  has  tended  to  break  up  the  Primary  Tends  to 

^  ^  -^  ^  Destroy  Useful 

great  parties,  to  destroy  their  organization,  to  create  Parties 
factions  in  them  prompted  by  selfish  motives.  It 
has  given  an  opportunity  to  hostile  groups,  like 
the  Non-Partisan  League,  for  instance,  in  North 
Dakota  and  Minnesota,  to  capture  the  party  ma- 
chinery, although  it  was  well  known  that  their 
action  was  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  the  party. 
This,  as  I  have  attempted  to  shov/,  is  not  in  the 
public  interest. 

These  new  devices  and  the  fact  that  they  have  Suceess  of  Ret>re- 

sentative  System 

been  given  wide  use,   are  evidence  of  a  dissatis-  Depends  wholly  on 

People 

faction  with  the  representative  system  where  they 
prevail.  But  I  think  the  careful  observer  will  note 
that  there  has  been  a  reaction  from  further  adoption 
of  them,  and  that  this  has  been  brought  about  by 
43 


REPRESENTATIVE   GOVERNMENT 
Success  of  Repre-  the  perception  of  most  people  that  the  best  way  to 

sentative  System 

Depends  wholly  on  jret  rid  of  8:overnmental  abuses  under  the   repre- 

People  ^  ^ 

sentative  system  is  for  the  people  themselves  to 
"get  busy"  and  manifest  in  their  votes  a  discour- 
aging hostility  to  those  who  stand  for  such  abuses. 
This  change  in  the  people's  attitude  has  worked  a 
great  reform;  and  the  questionable  mechanical  de- 
vices like  the  initiative,  the  referendum,  and  the 
general  primary,  have  been  seen  to  be  unnecessary. 
The  representative  system  is  the  only  system  by 
which  we  can  maintain  and  carry  on  successful 
popular  government  in  a  democracy  like  ours.  It 
is  a  failure  when  the  people  fail  in  their  duty;  and 
its  success  will  be  maintained  as  long  as  the  people 
maintain  their  sense  of  obligation  as  citizens.  Cer- 
tainly the  people  of  the  United  States  have  no  reason 
to  give  it  up;  for,  in  this  welter  of  war  and  destruc- 
tion and  destructive  reconstruction,  there  is  no  other 
country  whose  government  has  seemed  so  strong 
and  so  useful  to  its  people. 
Difficulties  of  In  the  consideration  of  the  faults  disclosed  by  our 

Government  ivith  .  ^  .... 

Immigration  representative  system  of  government  and  m  makmg 

allowance   for  those   faults,   we  can  not  omit  the 
burden  that  our  form  of  government  has  had  to 

44 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES 
carry  in  our  attempt  to  assimilate  so  many  millions  Difficulties  of 

.  Covernment  with 

of  foreign  born  who  have  come  to  this  country  as  immigration 
a  refuge  and  as  a  place  where  they  can  enjoy  our 
equaUty  of  opportunity.  We  were  more  successful 
in  the  beginning  in  making  these  immigrants  part 
of  our  body  politic  than  we  have  been  of  later  years. 
Then  the  immigrants  were  of  a  better  class.  When 
they  came  here,  they  were  distributed  in  such  a  way 
among  the  native  born  that  they  breathed  in  the 
spirit  of  our  institutions  and  became  Americanized 
very  much  more  quickly  and  more  thoroughly  than 
the  immigrants  who  come  to-day.  Millions  of  them 
do  not  speak  our  language;  many  of  them  have  a 
prejudice  against  all  government,  and  do  not  have 
the  sympathy  with  our  institutions  which  makes  for 
real  assimilation.  They  are  crowded  in  communi- 
ties where  they  are  able  to  keep  up  their  old  country 
relations  and  customs  and  language,  and  they  use 
this  country  only  as  a  means  of  earning  a  livelihood, 
and  not  with  any  idea  of  supporting  the  government 
and  becoming  a  part  of  it,  but  rather  with  the  hope 
of  some  day  overcoming  it  in  the  interest  of  a  vague 
socialist  or  anarchistic  state  in  which  they  are  to 
share  in  the  wealth  they  see  and  envy.  It  is  they 
45 


REPRESENTATIVE   GOVERNMENT 
Difficulties  of         who  form  the  nucleus  of  the  sociaHst  party.     It  is 

Government  zvith  '■         -^ 

Immigration  they  who  Strengthen  the  anarchistic  group.     It  is 

;  they  who  are  with  us  but  not  of  us;  and  it  is  they 
who  are  easily  made  the  instrument  of  demagogues 
or  the  tools  of  corruptionists.  They  present  a  great 
I  difficulty.  Still,  in  the  next  generation,  with  edu- 
cation for  their  children,  with  the  accumulation  of 
property  enough  to  create  conservative  tendencies 
in  them,  we  may  hope  for  better  things.  While  we 
all  deplore  the  war,  the  searching  investigation  and 
test  of  the  loyalty  of  these  men  and  the  analysis  of 
their  tendency  and  purpose  were  most  useful  in  the 
solving  of  the  problem  they  presented.  We  may 
hope  that  the  present  serious  movement  for  the 
Americanization  of  these  elements  of  our  population 
will  lessen  the  danger  of  their  presence  in  our  com- 
munity and  remedy  the  failings  of  the  representa- 
I  tive  system  for  which  their  presence  has  in  some 
degree  been  responsible. 

Lord  Bryce's  Lord  Bryce  wrote  a  book  fifty  years  ago,  in  which 

Conclusions 

he  described  the  working  of  our  government  and 
its  faults,  called  The  American  Commonwealth.  He 
has  just  published  a  second  work  on  Modern  Democ- 
racies, in  which  he  discusses  the  strength  and  weak- 
46 


IN   THE   UNITED    STATES 
ness  of  the  various  forms  of  Democracies  which  he  f^^^'-d  Bryce's 

Conclusions 

regards  as  types.  He  has  taken  France  and  Switzer- 
land in  the  old  world,  Canada  and  the  United  States 
in  this,  and  Australia  and  New  Zealand  in  the  far 
Southern  seas.  After  a  re-examination  of  condi- 
tions with  us,  and  a  reference  to  particular  dangers 
in  Democracies,  including,  in  our  case,  labor  trou- 
bles, and  over  immigration,  he  says: 

"America  is  better  fitted  than  are  European  coun- 
tries to  face  any  industrial  strife  that  may  arise, 
for  no  other  people,  except  the  Swiss,  values  so 
highly  its  institutions  and  the  principles  of  ordered 
liberty  embodied  therein.  In  America,  Democracy 
has  the  best  guarantee  against  Revolution, 

"The  history  of  the  Republic  furnishes  an  in- 
structive example  of  the  perpetual  conflict  between 
the  forces  of  Idealism  and  the  forces  of  Selfishness. 
The  first  generation  set  out  with  an  idealistic  faith 
in  Liberty,  in  Equality,  and  in  the  wisdom  of  the 
People.  The  second  and  third  generations,  absorbed 
by  the  passion  for  the  development  of  their  country's 
resources  and  distracted  by  the  struggle  over  negro 
slavery,  allowed  abuses  and  corruptions  to  grow  up, 

47 


REPRESENTATIVE  GOVERNMENT 
Lord  Bryce's  left  practical  politics    to    be    dominated    by  a  self- 

Coiuiusions 

constituted  oligarchy  of  professionals,  and,  without 
losing  their  theoretical  devotion  to  liberty,  forgot 
that  monarchs  are  not  its  only  enemies  and  that  it 
may  be  threatened  by  money  as  well  as  by  arms. 
Then  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  generations  there 
came  an  awakening.  The  recuperative  forces  in 
the  nation  asserted  themselves.  Both  the  old  par- 
ties (so  far  as  their  organizations  went)  failed  to 
give  the  guidance  needed,  and  there  was  much  grop- 
ing and  stumbling  in  search  for  remedies  to  cure 
the  evils  which  all  had  begun  to  perceive.  But  the 
forces  that  were  making  for  good  have  continued 
to  gain  strength.  The  old  ideals  of  a  government 
which  shall  be  pure  as  well  as  popular,  and  shall 
unite  the  whole  people  in  a  disinterested  patriotism 
that  values  national  righteousness  as  well  as  na- 
tional greatness,  have  again  become  beacon  lights 
of  inspiration. 

"No  Englishman  who  remembers  American  poli- 
tics as  they  were  half  a  century  ago,  and  who, 
having  lived  in  the  United  States,  has  formed  an 
affection  as  well  as  an  admiration  for  its  people — 
What   Englishman  who  lives  there  can  do  other- 


IN   THE  UNITED   STATES 
wise? — will  fail  to  rejoice  at  the  many  signs  that  Lord  Bryce's 

Conchisions 

the  sense  of  public  duty  has  grown  stronger,  that 
the  standards  of  public  life  are  steadily  rising,  that 
democracy  is  more  and  more  showing  itself  a  force 
making  for  ordered  progress,  true  to  the  principles 
of  liberty  and  equality  from  which  it  sprang." 


49 


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